Two New Telescope Reviews on AstronomySource

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AstronomySource and TelescopicWatch, which had been in the process of a merger (being owned by the same company), are being unmerged. So now I have a job again. I wrote two new reviews, and a guide to buying telescopes for kids is coming soon.

 https://astronomysource.com/reviews/skywatcher-startravel-102-az3/

My review of the SkyWatcher StarTravel 102 AZ3 achromatic refractor telescope.  I have something to admit--the unit I briefly owned was in fact not the skywatcher, but an older Celestron branded version which is 100% identical aside from the eyepieces and livery.

I bought this refractor for my cousin off craigslist for $100, a steal, and then realized the mount was just not quite easy enough to use. I wish I could have kept it, but instead I sold it to a friend and bought a SkyScanner, which is what I should have done in the first place. I'd just convinced myself that oh, you gotta have a refractor because collimation. No, the mount is more important, which is what I've been saying for ages now.

I sold the scope to the guy with a 90 degree star diagonal that a friend sent me, which was supposed to go to my cousin, but my cousin isn't getting a refractor. The original diagonal, which is still sold with the skywatcher version of the scope, was the 45 degree prism diagonal.

I love that scope and I wish I didn't have to sell it. It was fantastic for deep sky objects, showing them in high contrast. The view of the Double Cluster reminded me of what the 6" Dob can do, and I could easily see the E.T. cluster's body, which is a struggle in my 4.5" Bushnell Voyager. Chromatic aberration did make lunar/planetary viewing tough, though.

https://astronomysource.com/reviews/celestron-omni-xlt-150-eq-telescope/

The Omni XLT-150 does not need an introduction. I've talked about it lots of times on my blog. I had bought the mount for it with the intent of writing a review for it and recovering some of what I paid for it. Then AstronomySource and TelescopicWatch were to be merged. TelescopicWatch had a review of it already, so I couldn't. Well, now they're being unmerged, so I could finally publish that review. Here it is.



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